winter so far

So, I am now fully entrenched in my winter/ off season fun. I'm on the trainer/rollers 4 days a week but not with much intensity. In my last post, I noted that I have some goals: flexibility, core strength, weight loss and making my back feel better. I am actually being successful in three of the four goals, and am really psyched to keep seeing more progress.

Flexibility: The main problem has been my hamstrings, an I am happy to report that with my foot up on a table, I can alllllmost touch my toes now. Don't laugh your beer out your nose- I couldn't get within 4 inches when I started.

Core strength: This has been cool. The gains are quick and evident. At the start, I couldn't hold a plank for 30 seconds, and I can hold one for 4 minutes now. I also feel like my posture is getting better with stronger muscles to support my torso and I think I can start to see some muscle definition (under the rest of the spare tire anyway :))

Weight loss: With the exception of the party boat episode, I have been diligent at restricting my intake. Chief among the restrictions has been alcohol, which after the holidays and my brother's visit, has not been hard to cut back on. Starting weight: 169, now 164.5. Good progress by all accounts. Not quite like this guy, but hey, he's a lot yunker than me...

Back pain: So far, this has been a disappointment. I thought for sure that it would be feeling better now, what with the progress in the other areas, but no avail. Worse yet, I seem to have developed a case of mild sciatica. Bummer. I will keep going though, in hopes that it just hasn't been a long enough period of time yet.



OK, enough of that stuff. For Christmas, Santa brought Sam a real snowboard. I provided a pair of boots and goggles and he was off and running (or sliding). We went to the sledding hill a few times but all that did was make him want to try a 'real' hill, so off to Sunburst we went a few weeks ago. He had a lesson, and picked up the moves quickly. His passion over the summer/fall was skateboarding which translated well to the snowboard.

As a kid, I lived for skiing. Just the mild threat in August of skiing sanctions for being a punk had me back on the straight and narrow, that's how much I loved it. As soon as the weather started to turn crisp in the fall, I was dreaming of skiing night after night. Suffice to say, after my college years and on into dad-hood, I left it go, but always had it in the back of my mind that I would return to it someday. I think you can guess the rest!

I rented some of the new parabolic skis and wow! what a difference from my old boards. At a whopping 5'9" I was on 205's, now I'm on 165's! they are great fun and make me feel like I never left the sport they're so easy to ski. It didn't take long before a nice pair of Atomics with some new Solomon boots were in my possession. After that first night, I figured I would be sore for a week, but I didn't have any after effects at all. Except wanting to go again and again. The great thing is that I can do it with Sam, instead of just watching him. Now Maddie wants to get in on the action, but she wants to ski not board so I will take her for lessons as well. It's a good thing that business is good, because it's an expensive hobby. At least the season is relatively short.

That's it from the home front. Enjoy the winter wonderland.